arcserve-KB : RHA | How to configure SDRS and FSHA

Last Update: 2016-05-04 12:20:47 UTC

Title: How to configure SDRS and FSHA

Subject: If you have SDRS (storage distributed resource scheduler) setup in VMware and you create and run a full system scenario (FSHA) you may have failing assured recovery tests or switchovers. SDRS uses clustered storage and moves VM disks between datastores if there is i/o contention or lack of free space. If the VM or vmdk is moved this will break RHA's ability to find and bring this VM up during AR or switchover. This means unless unless a change is made to the SDRS settings RHA cannot guarantee it has the correct and current path to the VM/vmdk files and AR or switchover may not work.

Solution: You can make a change in your SDRS settings to stop the VM/vmdk from being moved.

**Warning, making the following change to your SDRS settings may result in unexpected behavior from SDRS with the VM's these changes are made to but these changes are required in order for RHA to have consistently passing AR tests and switchovers. Please consult with your network department and let them know what changes RHA is requesting be made to SDRS to ensure RHA works properly. For more info on this change in SDRS please see the link at the bottom.

1. For vsphere users you should have a 'hosts and clusters' tab in your console and in there you should see your SDRS cluster, right click on that and go to properties or 'edit settings'.

2. On the left pane click on 'virtual machine settings' and now on the right pane you will see a list of the VM's and a check box for each for 'keep VMDK's together'. For any VM involved with your RHA FSHA scenario you must uncheck this box. This should stop SDRS from moving the VMDK files around which causes RHA to fail to find them and stop working.